Nisennenmondai-Live at Clouds Hill

Nisennenmondai are a Tokyo-based instrumental trio who make music that is both raw and danceable in equal measure. They formed in 1999 and took their name from the Japanese translation of the then-current phrase “Y2K bug.

Live at Clouds Hill is the first record I’ve bought from them and what an entry point. The opening track simply titled “A” is a lengthy drum and guitar track that blends house-like dance beats using live drums along with hyper effects drenched semi-ambient guitar work. I streamed this track from Boomkat and it grabbed me enough that I bought the record

As strong as the opening track is, the rest of the record doesn’t deliver quite the same way. It’s not that the rest of the record is bad. It just doesn’t build the same way as “A”. The next best standout track is “B-1” which touches on some of the same themes as “A” without directly copying it. Slightly more up tempo with much more sparse guitar flourishes, “B-1” is a solid track.